1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems used in dental restoration. A dental restorative system replaces teeth and tissues missing in a patient's mouth.
2. Description of the Related Art
One prior art design is a dental abutment device that is a replica of the tooth that is to be replaced. The size and shape of the abutment is determined by a computer algorithm that modifies the tooth model based on measurements taken of the site where the tooth is to be replaced. This prior art design for a dental abutment is covered in U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,029 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,342.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,981 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,433 describe a coping device to use in customized implant restoration. The coping device has a head on one end that fits into a dental fixture such as dentures by way of a plurality of axially extending fingers for a radial friction fit onto an implanted dental implant fixture.
A healing abutment and impression coping is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,828. This device attaches to an implant that is in the jawbone of the patient and extends up through the gingival region to allow healing of the gingiva or gum tissue. During the healing process an aperture will be formed by the abutment of this device so as to enable an impression coping to be attached to the upper end of the device. Each aperture can vary in size according to the size of the impression coping, such as a molar, premolar, or incisor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,106 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,516 describe devices with platforms for holding and selecting impression copings during various dental procedures. The invention reduces the trial and error of the dental professional in deciding what size impression is needed. This device provides platforms that hold a selection of impression copings that work with available dental fixtures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,162 is a device that provides healing abutments for use during the second stage of dental restoration. The healing abutments have information markers on them that enable the abutments to be left in the patient's mouth until the permanent components are ready to be installed. The information markers allow the dentist to determine the size of both the healing abutment and the implant below the healing abutment, without the removal of the abutment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,723 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,765 describe a device that is to be implanted into the jawbone for the connection of an abutment with the jawbone. The device is to have a uniform roughness over the area of the implant that is to bond with the bone. The device will be implanted into the jawbone of a patient and then on top of this device the dentist can attach coping devices for abutments or dentures.
The invention in U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,162 is a technique to reduce the time and cost associated with producing molds for orthodontic appliances. The technique used is a 3D volumetric image of the physical model of the patient's mouth. Then computer-implemented techniques are used to design and simulate orthodontic treatment for the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,331 is a device for a dental implant that is to be implanted in a living jawbone. The device is implanted in the jawbone and extends through the gingiva or gum tissue of the patient to connect with an artificial tooth to replace a missing tooth in that location. The gingival section is connected with the anchoring portion of the device, therefore, no seam is present for bacteria to collect in and cause an infection.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,116 describes a way to increase the stability of a dental implant in the jawbone of a patient. Stability is increased by improving the tension on the screws used to assemble the dental implants. The screws used in this invention can support a greater amount of tension when they have been coated with gold, and particularly the screws made with titanium and then coated with a biocompatible metal such as platinum, nickel, or copper.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,975,893, 6,227,851 and 6,394,801 describe a reconfigurable dental model of a patient's teeth. Each individual member of the manipulable model can move and rotate along three different axial directions. The movement of each member represents a tooth of the patient, and allows a dentist to make orthodontic adjustments to a patient from start to finish with the same 3D model.
One possible example of prior art is where a patient has a denture with a metal clip member attached to the underside of the denture. The patient also has a metal bar that is attached to abutments extending from dental implants in the patient's jawbone. The metal clip attached to the denture can then snap onto the bar in the patient's mouth to hold the denture in place. In this configuration, the denture is removable by simply unsnapping the denture from the bar that is permanently attached to the patient's jawbone.
Another possible example of prior art is when a bridge of two or more teeth is supported by multiple implants. In this procedure the dental implants are implanted into the jawbone of the patient and then the bridge is secured to the abutments extending from the dental implants.
There is also another possible example of prior art which is to permanently secure a denture in the patient's mouth. In this other option the denture can be attached to the abutments on the dental implants by fixation screws.